Marlo Thomas

A bubbly presence with a charmingly husky voice, actress Marlo Thomas, the daughter of beloved entertainer Danny Thomas, rose to fame in the late 1960s as the accident-prone Ann Marie on "That Girl" (ABC, 1966-1971). The series, which earned Thomas a Golden Globe, might have been the alpha and omega of her career, as it minted her in the role of hapless ingénue for years to follow. But Thomas turned to weightier topics in the 1970s, most notably women and children's rights, for which she helped to launch the Ms. Foundation for Women and produce the children's special "Free to Be You and Me" (ABC, 1974), which endeared her to a generation of youngsters and parents. With the help and support of her famous talk show host husband Phil Donahue, Thomas later segued into producing for television while continuing her philanthropic pursuits through St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. In doing so, Thomas became one of the leading socially conscious figures in the entertainment industry.